In Gaul, too, letters were
scattered
broadcast.
Tacitus
This man was a criminal who had been convicted of
fraud[419] during Nero's reign. Among the many evils of the war was
his recovery of senatorial rank. Galba gave him command of the
Seventh legion, and he was believed to have written repeatedly to Otho
offering his services as general to the party. But, as Otho took no
notice of him, he was without employment in the war. When Vitellius'
cause began to decline, he joined Vespasian and proved an acquisition.
He was a man of great physical energy and a ready tongue; an artist in
calumny, invaluable in riots and sedition. Light-fingered and
free-handed, he was intolerable in peace, but by no means contemptible
in war. The union of the Moesian and Pannonian armies soon attracted
the troops in Dalmatia to the cause. Tampius Flavianus and Pompeius
Silvanus, the two ex-consuls who governed respectively Pannonia and
Dalmatia,[420] were wealthy old gentlemen who had no thought of
rising. But the imperial agent in Pannonia, Cornelius Fuscus, was a
vigorous young man of good family. In his early youth a desire to make
money[421] had led him to resign his senatorial rank. He had headed
the townsmen of his colony in declaring for Galba, and his services
had won him a position as imperial agent. [422] Then he joined
Vespasian's party, giving a keen stimulus to the war; for, being
attracted more by danger itself than by its prizes, he always disliked
what was certain and long established, preferring everything that was
new and dangerous and doubtful. So the Vespasian party used all their
efforts to fan every spark of discontent throughout the empire.
Letters were sent to the Fourteenth in Britain and to the First in
Spain,[423] since both these legions had stood for Otho against
Vitellius.
In Gaul, too, letters were scattered broadcast. All in an
instant the war was in full flame. The armies of Illyricum openly
revolted, and all the others were ready to follow the first sign of
success.
FOOTNOTES:
[391] i. e. he was crucified.
[392] See note 30.
[393] Cp. i. 79.
[394] This hope was fulfilled (chap. 85).
[395] See i. 89.
[396] Under Nero, after brilliant service in Armenia and
Parthia. Nero was jealous and afraid of him.
fraud[419] during Nero's reign. Among the many evils of the war was
his recovery of senatorial rank. Galba gave him command of the
Seventh legion, and he was believed to have written repeatedly to Otho
offering his services as general to the party. But, as Otho took no
notice of him, he was without employment in the war. When Vitellius'
cause began to decline, he joined Vespasian and proved an acquisition.
He was a man of great physical energy and a ready tongue; an artist in
calumny, invaluable in riots and sedition. Light-fingered and
free-handed, he was intolerable in peace, but by no means contemptible
in war. The union of the Moesian and Pannonian armies soon attracted
the troops in Dalmatia to the cause. Tampius Flavianus and Pompeius
Silvanus, the two ex-consuls who governed respectively Pannonia and
Dalmatia,[420] were wealthy old gentlemen who had no thought of
rising. But the imperial agent in Pannonia, Cornelius Fuscus, was a
vigorous young man of good family. In his early youth a desire to make
money[421] had led him to resign his senatorial rank. He had headed
the townsmen of his colony in declaring for Galba, and his services
had won him a position as imperial agent. [422] Then he joined
Vespasian's party, giving a keen stimulus to the war; for, being
attracted more by danger itself than by its prizes, he always disliked
what was certain and long established, preferring everything that was
new and dangerous and doubtful. So the Vespasian party used all their
efforts to fan every spark of discontent throughout the empire.
Letters were sent to the Fourteenth in Britain and to the First in
Spain,[423] since both these legions had stood for Otho against
Vitellius.
In Gaul, too, letters were scattered broadcast. All in an
instant the war was in full flame. The armies of Illyricum openly
revolted, and all the others were ready to follow the first sign of
success.
FOOTNOTES:
[391] i. e. he was crucified.
[392] See note 30.
[393] Cp. i. 79.
[394] This hope was fulfilled (chap. 85).
[395] See i. 89.
[396] Under Nero, after brilliant service in Armenia and
Parthia. Nero was jealous and afraid of him.
